Oil companies conduct seismic surveying to lower risk and to reduce costs of locating and developing new oil and gas reserves. Seismic surveying is, therefore, an up front cost with intangible return value. Consequently minimizing the cost of seismic surveying and getting quality results in minimum time are important aspects of the seismic surveying process.
Seismic surveys are conducted by deploying a large array of seismic sensors over a surface portion of the earth. Typically, these arrays cover 50 square miles and may include 2000 to 5000 seismic sensors. An energy source (buried dynamite for example) is discharged within the array and the resulting shock wave is an acoustic wave that propagates through the subsurface structures of the earth. A portion of the wave is reflected at underground discontinuities, such as oil and gas reservoirs. These reflections are then sensed at the surface by the sensor array and recorded. Such sensing and recording are referred to herein as seismic data acquisition, which might also be performed in a passive mode without an active seismic energy source. A three dimensional map, or seismic image, of the subsurface structures is generated by moving the energy source to different locations while collecting data within the array. This map is then used to make decisions about drilling locations, reservoir size and pay zone depth.
During use of seismic data acquisition systems, which involve the stages of layout, shooting, and retrieval, the current technologies require a “heads down” approach to navigate a terrain underlying the seismic spread. That is, the field crew must continually reference a handheld device to determine their location. If the crew has difficulty finding the location, time-consuming radio calls are made to the main survey station for instructions. Moreover, radio contact is frequently interrupted or inaccessible, further delaying the process.
The present disclosure addresses these and other shortcomings of conventional seismic data acquisition systems.